


In The Hours of Darkness

by Silvials



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 04:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3367946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvials/pseuds/Silvials
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack wasn't there when his sister was grieving for him, he thought it would be right to be there for Hiro when he was grieving for his brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Hours of Darkness

There was a figure standing at the other end of the room, concealed by mist and shadows. He was tall, slightly wiry and the color of his cloak resembled the hue of the winter sky and it billowed about him in an unseen breeze, almost as if he was encompassed entirely by the wind. The wooden staff he carried had a shepherd's crook and the gaps that spiraled the dull surface seem to spark to life whenever pale fingers brushed over it. His face was obscured by the dim light, but his eyes appeared as two blue slits in the dark. Blue eyes were meant to be cold, yet somehow Hiro found warmth in his gaze, the same warmth that Tadashi's always had. "Hiro" the stranger said, his voice stirring the wind the same way it stirred the gentle silence of the night.

"Woa—what?" the fourteen-year-old could do nothing but stare from the other side of the shoji, his hands closed around the arms of his chair as his sleep-clouded mind tried to process the scene before him. "How did you get in here?" it was all he could think of saying as he absently wondered whether he should be calling for help, although he could do nothing but stare as the figure made his way towards him, frost patterns blossoming under his footfalls. "How did you know my name?" he added, almost as if it was an afterthought.

The figure stopped shortly at the boundary that separated his side with Tadashi's. Setting aside his staff, he crossed his arms and tilted his head towards him. Shafts of moonlight pried through the blinds beside him, lending an eerie glow to his silver hair. Whatever he was, everything about him suggested he wasn't human. "I've always known you Hiro, and I'm pretty sure you know me too" he said, his voice held somewhat of a playful lilt and his eyes were lined with mischief.

"Then enlighten me," he said, his grip on the armrest finally loosening as he leaned back into his seat. "Who are you?"

"Think harder, maybe you'll remember"

Hiro only furrowed his brows in confusion as he fought through the fragments of memories, wondering where he had seen those eyes before. The first thing he saw were faces, various faces whose names he couldn't place then his mind strayed into a specific time, back when he was still a child and his brother used to tell him stories of The Guardians of Childhood just before he went to bed. He thought of a particular story of the bringer of ice and snow and the fragments finally fell into place. "Jack Frost?" he said with quite an amount of uncertainly as he scrutinized the stranger again.

The corner of his lips pulled into a smirk as he dipped his head slightly in a mock bow. "The one and only"

His grief momentarily ebbed and gave way to curiosity and Hiro found himself mimicking the other's smirk. "No way" He swung around in his chair in a semi-circle, a habit he had grown accustomed to whenever he was speaking to someone. "So you're saying you're the spirit of winter from the children's' bedtime stories? No offense but that sound ridiculous."

"And yet you still believe in them," Jack simply stated as he picked up his staff from where it was propped against the wall and began his pacing around the room. His face showed his amusement as he watched the fourteen-year-old prodigy tried to process his logic.

"What?" Hiro spoke after what he assumed to be a long moment's musing. "How are you so sure I still believe? I've gotten over those ever since I was nine."

"Because you can see me now"

Hiro spun his seat around and slumped into his desk, a clumsy hand rubbing across his eye to sooth an oncoming headache. "Nothing is making sense"

"It would if you'd let me explain. If I have to prove anything to you," the winter spirit turned towards the nearest window and pressed his staff lightly against the glass. Frost patterns bloomed from the tip of the shepherd's and slathered over the surface, crystallizing into the familiar fern patterns that decorated his window whenever winter came. "There's your evidence."

Hiro could only gawk for a moment, unable to do anything but stutter out an incomprehensible reply. He stood from his seat and crossed the room in a few strides when he arrived by the window, he gingerly pressed his hand against it. The bite of the cold glass against his palms finally pulled him from his stupor. "How are you doing that?"

"So?" Jack continued his pacing around the room, his staff slung over his shoulder as he examined his own work. "Is that enough to have you believing?"

"Wow" he breathed, unable to say anything further but then a sudden realization struck him and he turned towards Jack. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"What? Is it wrong to pay my long time believer a visit?" he asked him with one eye brow raised and his tone feigning accusation and Hiro laughed. It's been a while since he did and the sound felt somewhat alien to him, though suddenly it seemed as if the empty room wasn't so lonely anymore. "It's not normal to sneak into someone's room in the middle of the night."

"I know….that's why I knocked" The Guardian countered deftly, earning a facepalm from the other. "That's….not what someone does either…." He trailed off and chose something else to say instead. "How are you even real?"

"I've always been real, it's just that you won't see me if you don't really believe I exist."

"You should probably stop thinking about that kiddo, it'll drive you insane." Then he stopped short on his tracks at the sight of Tadashi's side of the room. Everything remained untouched, his books neatly shelved at the nightstand and his belongings tidily stacked. The black cap still remained at the center of the bed as if he had left it there, although the area held a lonely chill and it will always feel void without another presence.

Hiro noticed the sudden pause and absently followed the other's gaze. Harsh reality struck him again when he realized where Jack was looking. Any amount of respite he felt before had dissipated, his shoulders visibly sagged as if the weight of the world was too much for him to take and his mind clouded with grief. Just the mere thought of his brother was enough to send tears to his eyes. But he stubbornly blinked them away and watched as Jack heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know why, though he just felt the need to explain. "That side belonged to my brother…he's gone."

"I know" his voice wasn't a whisper, though it matched the deep rustle of the wind through the wooden gaps of the window sill. "It's actually why I'm here"

Hiro has dealt with so many sympathies since the accident he couldn't bear to deal with one more. It's been a while since Tadashi died, days, week, maybe even months. He didn't know. The scars still hurt like a fresh wound and he didn't even know if they would ever even heal. It hurt whenever he heard someone talk about his brother in past tense, it hurt whenever he said his name, it hurt even for him to speak of his grief "No…" he muttered and shook his head, hoping he could shake away the tears as well. "Just stop"

"Hiro" the winter spirit pressed on, his eyes flaring slightly the way the frost would on his staff. "You've pushed everyone away, don't push me away too"

"No!" he snapped, unable to hold back the tears. They trailed down his cheeks and burned like candle wax against the night's chill. The floodgates were opened and his head throbbed with the myriad of thought running through his mind. "I just don't want to talk about it." He tried to sound firm but the quiver in his voice betrayed his intensions. The tears continued to spill and they wouldn't stop even as he reached up and swiped his sleeve furiously across his eyes.

They both lapsed into silence after that and the only thing that broke it was the sound of his own frantic breathing. Hiro collapsed onto his bed, too weary to comprehend what had happened.

He didn't know how long passed until Jack spoke again, calm as ever yet his voice sounded distant through the waves of turmoil in his mind, almost as if it was an echo at the end of a tunnel "Just so you know, I'm here to help you, if you need it that is."

Hiro opened his eyes, unaware of when he closed them and stared blankly at the ceiling. Once his breathing had returned into a more natural pattern, he propped himself unto his elbows, unable to meet the guardian's gaze. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…."

"It's alright" he was leaning against wooden railings of the staircase, his expression foreshadowed, though he could see a hint of a bland smile on his lip. "It's nothing"

"So…" As much as Hiro tried to wrench himself from the thought, it tugged at his mind and refused to let go. He visibly gathered some nerve, swallowed thickly before bringing the question up. "You knew Tadashi?"

"Briefly" Jack picked himself off from the railings and began picking his way through the messy space that was his bedroom, accidentally kicking away little trinkets and muttering quick apologies for it. "You were only three when your parents passed away, it was a rough time for Tadashi." His tone had unconsciously returned into a slight drawl, though it did little to mask the brief sadness that flashed across his eyes. It was gone as quickly as it came and Jack peered over his shoulder to look at the wall clock that hung on the center pillar. "It's late. Go to bed"

Hiro recalled Tadashi telling him the same thing so many times before, when he came home from school to find him fast asleep on his desk with either his fight bot in his hands or a new blueprint for modifications on his computer screen. He hated it whenever Tadashi would throw him over his shoulder and dump him into his bed, though now he only longed for it. He shook himself out of his trance and found Jack gazing at him, his brows drawn together in concern

"I'm fine" Hiro answered the unspoken question with a crooked grin in attempt to loosen the strain that had begun to coalesce in the atmosphere. "And hey, you're not the boss of me."

"You've been up for days staring at that fight bot; it's about time you got a decent night's sleep."

"I can't" Hiro admitted, grimacing slightly at the flames that ignited at the periphery of his vision whenever he closed his eyes. "I've been having nightmares…."

"The nightmares won't come."

Hiro did not get a chance to decipher what Jack meant. The next moment he blinked, there was no one there at all. The frost patterns that fringed the window had long faded, leaving not even a stain against the glass. There was only a trail of golden sand settled in between the fissures of the floorboards.

The nightmares had finally ceased that night.

It was as if Jack was a trigger for various things to happen, for the next morning he awoke was when Baymax activated again.

~*~*~*

"The fire was never an accident." Hiro couldn't help but repeat to himself, feeling his world beginning to spin with a dizzying sense of apprehension. He carried on his back and forth progression around the space of his bedside, only stopping when Baymax abruptly stepped out of his charging port.

The squeak of vinyl legs replaced the silence as the medical robot waddled over to where his desk was, his round unfathomable eyes fixated on the window above it, where the glass was already misty with the beginnings of discerning fern patterns he saw the other night. "My sensors detect signs of life, although the form happens to be disembodied."

"It's Jack" Hiro said, more to himself rather than as an answer: He moved towards the window to open it, but instead the all too familiar voice called his name from the other side of the room, scaring him half to death once more.

Hiro whipped around to fix the winter spirit with a withering glare, to which he returned with an amused quirk of his brow. "You were looking the wrong way"

"Could you please stop doing that? You nearly game me—"

"Are you having another heart attack, Hiro?" That was Baymax this time, his hands ready with the built-in defibrillators.

"No Baymax, it's just an expression"

Though Hiro didn't need to say anything further to stop Baymax, for the medical robot's attention quickly diverted from his patient to the other being beside him. "My sensors detect another life form present in this room." He stated, looking to Hiro as if he was oblivious to the fact.

"I will scan you now" he said as he turned his head towards the general direction of the winter elemental. "Scan complete"

"Huh," Jack hummed silently, crossing his arms as he gave Baymax a once over. "I never knew robots could see me."

"I will now download a database on paranormal activity."

"Okay, never mind."

Hiro shook his head at Baymax and gently pushed away the inflatable hand that was downloading contents from his computer. "There's no need for that Baymax, there's something more important to deal with right now." He sank into his chair and slumped against the back rest, allowing his mind to wander through an assortment of possibilities to why someone would start the fire in the first place.

"Hey" Jack called out to him, noticing how distraught the younger was, and the deep worry evident in his expression. "Is there something wrong kiddo?"

"It's just…this morning I…." Hiro began but trailed off when his thoughts refused to cooperate. It felt as if he was loosing his grip on reality as the image of the masked man appeared at the back of his mind along with the nightmares of the fire. "The night of the fire—Tadashi—it was never an accident."

Jack's bright blue eyes suddenly faded in contrast of the night. A part of him thought Hiro was only paranoid, although as his gaze searched around the boy's cluttered desk and found his microbot shoving against a Petri dish, seeming as if it was attracting to something distant, he immediately knew Hiro had encountered something and it caused him to bring back the subject of the fire. He wouldn't even have made mention of the accident if it was otherwise. "What do you mean?"

"I accidentally activated Baymax today and I found my microbot in the jacket I wore during the showcase." He twisted around and grabbed the Petri dish, holding it towards Jack. "It was trying to attract to something, see? So Baymax and I followed it and it led us to an old warehouse. There was a masked man in there, he stole my microbots and started the fire to cover his tracks and now he's making more." Hiro wiped the back of his palm against his forehead and risked a glance at the other side of the room. The shoji stood ajar from where the winter spirit slipped in, though he could still see the little streams of moonlight illuminating the outline of Tadashi's cap and his heart tightened again, but whether it was from anger or from grief, he didn't know. At the moment he was too intent on catching the masked man to decipher it.

Jack said something to him but Hiro didn't hear him. He sprang to his feet and began to pick through his things, shoving screwdrivers, hammers and several other tools into his pockets. "I need to catch this guy, I have to but first Baymax needs some serious upgrades."

He was about to make his way down the stairs, with Baymax close on his heel but stopped when he felt a sudden tug against his hoodie. Ice grew around the hem of the hood, sending chills down his spine. Hiro unconsciously shivered and Jack apologized, but only briefly, before tugging at the hood again, turning him around so they were facing each other. "What do you think you're doing?"

Jack was starting to remind him of Tadashi and it hurt so much. "That guy stole my microbots—he's responsible for Tadashi." The quiver in his voice betrayed his demeanor. He looked up at Jack, almost pleadingly, "I have to catch him."

"Hiro," his tone was firm and his eyes hardened with the command. "People who would pull a stunt like setting an entire building on fire for the sake of covering his tracks are dangerous. Do you think you would be able to stop him without so much as a plan?"

"But I do have a plan." Hiro shot back, although he didn't know if he was voicing it for the sake of convincing himself. "I know where he's hiding so that gives me the advantage and I'm the one who made those microbots in the first place so I know exactly how they work. I just need to get him away from the mask and it'll be easy."

Jack let out a huff of frustration, tired of how Hiro fails to see the danger that he's diving head-first into. "Hiro, it's not that simple, I've been through a lot of situations like that and I'm telling you, it's not as simple as it sounds."

"But Baymax can handle that guy!"

"Baymax is a medical robot."

"He needs a new chip and maybe some armor too—okay look" Hiro was careful to keep his voice low as he inched towards the edge of the staircase. The lights in the adjoining living room were off, but there was a distinctive glow of a bright-lit TV screen that cut through the darkness, which meant Aunt Cass was probably having one of her late night movie marathons again. He didn't know if he would be able to come up with a coherent answer if she were to ask who he was talking to in the middle of the night. "Stay if you want to" he told Jack, halfway through his decent down the stairs. "But I'm not stopping until I catch this guy."

With one final scan around the room, Baymax disappeared out of sight along with Hiro, leaving Jack to himself.

"What am I going to do with that kid?" The guardian could only grumble, bringing his hand to his forehead in a facepalm. He only showed himself to his believers when they were at their lowest point, whether they are feeling lost or are simply in need of comfort. Some would carry on their belief; the others deem it simply as a dream. Jack never stayed for more than one day, though now he knew he would be staying in San Fransokyo for a while.

~*~*~*

The whir of the car horns and the pulsing blood rush in his in his ears were starting to make his head spin. Every breath he took was heavy with engine smoke and his hands were hot with the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Hiro unconsciously gripped his seat tighter as Gogo made a sudden twist to dodge another intercepting car. His fingers were beginning to feel numb from the pressure of the foam car seat, although he couldn't find it in himself to care. They were speeding through the freeway now, with the mask man not far behind them. Given any other circumstance, Hiro would have found fun in the idea of a car chase but now, seeing the menacing stare of the Kabuki through the lattice framework of the bridge only filled him with dread. He couldn't practically hear Jack's words now and he realized how stupid he was for misjudging just how much microbots this guy had already produced in the warehouse.

The masked man would have caught up to them to block their path at the end of the bridge if it wasn't for the great blue spark that suddenly hindered his tracks. Hiro looked back just in time to see a figure take off into the sky, growing smaller and smaller until it darted into the clouds.

"Did you see that?" He twisted around to tell the others, but Gogo only brushed him off with a simple 'never mind' slamming her foot into the accelerators. Honey had her eyes locked on the road ahead of them, occasionally warning Gogo of an approaching car. Fred was too busy stating facts about a classic super villain he read in a comic book and Wasabi had his eyes screwed tightly shut.

When Hiro turned back again, it was only to find out that the microbots have closed around the car into a rapidly narrowing tunnel.

*~*~*

It was 1am when Hiro began to consider the prospect of sleep, but the idea promptly went down the drain when the sound of a familiar tap against his window broke the pensive silence.

"Oh look, you're still alive."

Hiro simply rolled his eyes at the snide remark and spun his chair around to face Jack.

The Guardian stood a few feet away from him, with his staff hanging on his shoulder at the crook and his arms crossed over his chest. The look he had was identical to the look Tadashi had always directed at him after he picked him out of a bot fight.

"Hey, that blue spark that stopped the masked man in the middle of the chase, did you do that?" Hiro said and cracked the most innocent grin he could muster, hoping he could steer them to another topic to avoid the oncoming lecture.

"Figured if I couldn't stop you from dong something incredibly stupid, the least I can do is stop you from getting yourself killed. So what do you have to say for yourself now, genius?" The inflection on the word genius held a hint of smug amusement.

Hiro only shrugged it off, unfazed by the weight of Jack's glare, "Okay, I admit that was incredibly dangerous but it was totally worth it!"

"Wow, all that and I don't even get a simple thank you."

"Hey, I was doing fine on my own."

"So I guess it was a part of your brilliant plan to go for a swim at the San Fransokyo Bay in the middle of the night. Good job."

Before Hiro had the chance to come up with a witty retort, Jack cuts him off, motioning his head to where Baymax had the Kabuki's medical information displayed on the screen of his belly, along with a couple of blueprints for a new scanner. "So what are you planning to do with that?"

Hiro fumbled around his desk and revealed the basic sketches of the new modifications he had in mind for his friends. "I'm going to use those to find that guy again and this time the others are willing to help."

"Others," Jack said dryly. "I thought science students had more common sense than that."

"Oh come on! I've thought of some new upgrades for them and Baymax too. We're ready."

Hiro sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a habit he had grown accustomed to whenever he felt the frustration growing inside him. "If it doesn't work this time, I'll try again and I won't stop trying until I catch this guy. I'm doing it for Tadashi" he swallowed hard and thankfully that was enough to hold back the tears. "I owe him that much…"

Jack's expression softened at that and tilted his head back slightly in exasperation. "I can't stop you from doing all those stupid things, but just so you know, you're not alone."

Hiro did not have the heart to ask what he meant by that, fearing Jack would only tell him the terse statement he's heard from everybody else: that Tadashi was with him as long as he was remembered. When he turned around again, he found himself staring at the empty space where Jack stood only moments ago.

His visits had always been strange but at least the room didn't feel as and empty as it was before.

~*~*~*

Before, Hiro would have given anything to hear his brother's voice again, though now he only wished he hadn't.

Returning to his room was all but comfort, every corner still fresh with lingering memories. Hiro stopped shortly once he reached the top of the staircase, nearly causing Baymax to run into him.

"Is everything okay, Hiro?" the medical robot asked. He had been repeating the same question since his friends have left, although Hiro would simply nod each time and reassure him again with a strained smile.

"Would you like to tell me what is causing your distress?" Baymax pressed on after his inquiry was only answered with silence and if eyes were designed in another way, Hiro would have seen the concern in them. For a moment he was tempted to tell him the truth, though he himself felt too conflicted to understand his own thoughts.

He had always kept videos of him and Tadashi, a mix of Aunt Cass' home movies and stolen shots obtained from pulling pranks, although now he knew why he never thought of watching them, lest of the memories that would resurface and the pain that always came along with it.

He felt tears begin to prick at his eyes and the air seemed to grow colder along with the thought. Hiro stumbled towards the other end of the room, almost blindly, knees buckling at every step and with a deep breath, pushed the Shoji away. His knees gave out at that moment and he collapsed onto the bed, his hand clenching the dusty sheets as he pressed his face against the mattress. He didn't know why it still hurts so much. Everything seemed to be getting better a few moments ago, though now it felt as if his world was falling apart again.

"Hiro." A voice broke through his train of thought, though he didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "You saw that, huh?"

"Who would have expected the masked man to be him, huh?" Jack stated, somewhat nonchalantly as if he was trying to lighten the mood. Hiro did not turn around, neither did he move. Sighing, Jack shed his hood and set his staff down on the floor. "You know you shouldn't feel bad about yourself. Anger can turn you into someone else, and I know that, okay?" he tilted his slightly to look at Hiro, though the teen still refused to meet his gaze.

After a while Jack heard Hiro take a sharp breath, which was unmistakably a sniffle, then he swiped his sleep over his eyes and buried his head into his arms to hide the fact that he's crying.

"Hiro" Jack coaxed again, this time striding closer to him, a little surprised at how loud the sound of creaking floorboards contrasted with the heavy air. Once he was close enough, the winter spirit placed a hand the child's shoulder and used the other to ruffle his already unkempt hair.

The touch felt alien to Hiro and at the same time it was also familiar. It wasn't as if Gogo or Honey Lemon hadn't patted him on the shoulder; Fred and Wasabi would also ruffle his hair once in a while, but the way Jack does it reminded him of how Tadashi used to comfort him whenever he was startled awake by nightmares.

The mere nostalgia he felt before became a maelstrom of emotions. Hiro drew himself upright and faced Jack, his vision slightly clouded with a glaze of tears. He knew he'll feel guilty about it later, but now all his thoughts sought for was comfort. Closing his eyes, he wrapped his arms around Jack and for a moment pretended his big brother was still with him.

"I miss him." Hiro admitted, flinching slightly as his cheeks began to sting, although he didn't know whether it was from the frost around Jack's hoodie or the trills of tears streaking down his face.

"I know," Jack's voice wasn't a whisper but it was just as soft. The smile he had was somber as he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder in vain attempt to comfort him.

"But Tadashi wouldn't have wanted you to stay here and grieve." He gave Hiro's shoulder a slight nudge until the younger Hamada looked up to meet his gaze.

"He would have wanted me to do something with my big brain." Hiro finished for him, his voice slightly lilted with a bitter laugh. The grief clouding his eyes eventually faded and gave way to a look of new found determination.

He broke away from the embrace, snatched a few tools from his desk and called after Baymax as he made a beeline for the stairs. "Thanks Jack!"

"That big brain of yours think of a new plan, kiddo?"

"Yep," came Hiro's hasty reply, followed by a high-pitched yelp which indicated he had stumbled down the last few steps.

"On a scale of one to-"

"No time for that now Baymax."

The guardian couldn't help but shake his head as he hung back in the room, letting out an amused snicker at Hiro's antics.

~*~*~*

Baymax was gone. Hiro had lost the last reminiscence of his brother and was oddly silent on the subject.

Jack worried he would tear himself apart if he continued to bottle up his grief, but he could normally tell whether someone is forcing out a smile and strangely enough, Hiro didn't appear to be holding any sort of façade.

It was his first day of collage and his movements were a little too leaden as Jack watched him working his way around the room, trying his best to clear away the rumpled paper balls and gummy bear wrappers that have accumulated from the days he spent confined in the space. Occasionally his gaze would linger on a corner of the room or a specific item of his desk, although he would eventually break out of his trance after a few seconds pass.

By the time his friends arrive at the café, Hiro was standing in front of the mirror staring blankly at his own reflection that stubbornly stared back. His hands fiddled with the bag strap around his shoulder, adjusting it into a more secure position but never seeming quite content no matter how many times he repeated the process.

"Their giving me Tadashi's lab," Hiro finally spoke and he was amazed at how loud his voice sounded in the long ensued stillness. He had long given up on his bag strap and was now running his fingers through his hair.

Now Jack finally understood why he was so unsettled by the idea of returning to the university again.

"At first I didn't want it." Hiro continued, his tone seemed firm but he felt like it would waver if he spoke any louder. "Actually I still don't want it….but the only reason I accepted is because I needed something that reminds me of Tadashi and Baymax."

Jack left his staff by the window, strode across the room and placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder. It was a simple gesture but he felt Hiro absently lean into the comfort.

The winter spirit couldn't help but wonder if his sister felt the same when she lost him, but he immediately pushed the thought away the moment it came. "I know you are probably sick of this question, but are you sure you are okay?"

Hiro only shrugged, as if the topic didn't really matter. He had his hands shoved in his pockets now, feeling the comfort of the warm fabric chase away the chill in his veins. "I know it should hurt….but I don't know….it's already been a while I guess. It's probably time to move on." He allowed his gaze to travel to the other side of the room and as his eyes began to adjust to the glare of the sun, they immediately fell on Tadashi's hat.

Hiro trudged towards Tadashi's bed, picked up his cap and gently tucked it gently into his bag. Then he turned on his heel to make his way towards the stairs, but before he crossed the room again, he stopped in front of Jack and smiled. "Thanks for not giving up on me.

*~*~*

"Ow," he muttered. It was more of an inquiry rather than an exclamation. Perhaps he had long given up the hope of ever getting a response, but this time the icon on the charging dock lit up and soon the lab was filled the faint sound of a whoosh as Baymax gradually inflated into shape. "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. Hello, Hiro."

Hiro released a breath he didn't know he had been holding, taken aback by the sudden reality that struck him. He felt his knees buckle slightly under his weight and his head began to grow light with the thoughts running through his mind. His vision was clouded with a layer of tears and the hazy glaze made it see as if he was viewing the scene before him in a dream.

Without another word, he launched himself at Baymax, letting out a breathless laugh as he felt the healthcare robot wrap his arms around him and began patting his head. After a while he drew away from the embrace and held out his fist. When Baymax returned the gesture and drew his fist away with a 'Balalalala' he nearly broke down crying with a mixed sense of bliss and relief. Baymax was back. His Baymax was back.

They spent the rest of their time in the lab, with Hiro deciding it would be best to break the news to his friends after they've finished with their individual projects.

While Baymax was replaying Tadashi's test clips on the white screen stretched over his belly, Hiro couldn't stop gushing about the events the nursebot had missed during his absence. It was then when Baymax' head suddenly tilted from side to side, the sudden flash of blue in his eyes indicating he had taken a brief scan of the lab. "It appears that the disembodied figure has returned."

"So I guess this is goodbye for me then."

Hiro turned to acknowledge the question and found the guardian leaning by the entrance, the door to his lab now stood ajar. "What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving," Jack said, the usual nonchalance lacing his tone, though he did not clarify any further.

His vague reply caused the young college student to furrow his brows. Grabbing on to the edge of his desk, he pulled himself up from a beanbag to level with Jack's gaze. "Leaving to where?"

"I've been in San Fransokyo for quite some time now. Let's just say even spirits get a little homesick." And then he smiled, with a little hint of remorse present in his eyes as he kept his sight fixed on the window behind Hiro. Jack knew the boundaries. He is immortal and Hiro is not. He feared if he stayed any longer, he might never bring himself to leave.

"But…" Hiro meant to be indignant, but it came out more like a desperate plea. Jack had always been a part of Tadashi and he was determined not to lose that as well.

"Don't worry, home isn't far." Jack assured and reached around Hiro to give Baymax a pat, "besides, I think you will be fine on your own." He brushed passed Hiro, intending to make his leave but stopped shortly at the sight of the boy's hesitance. He placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "When the moon disappears in the morning sky, it doesn't mean it isn't there. The same goes for me…and Tadashi too. I'll always be there okay? And Tadashi…well he never left to begin with."

Hiro could only stare as his mind took a while to process the words. The grief was no longer present in his eyes but there was still a hint of sadness, although the smile that broke across his face did well to conceal it. He stole a glance at Tadashi's hat, then looked to Jack again. "Thanks"

Eyebrows raised, Jack canted his head questioningly at him questioningly. "For what?"

"For being there"

They shared one last smile and before Hiro had the chance to say anything else, he was pelted in the face with a snowball.

"See you next winter kiddo." He heard Jack say. When he managed to wipe off most of the snow from his face, he found himself staring at a trail of frost leading out the door.


End file.
